Fallout 3: Steel Bound
by NUKEMARCO
Summary: The waters of life flow at long last, all thanks to Project Purity and the efforts of the Brotherhood of Steel. The Capitol Wasteland, two centuries in the wait, was saved. But what of it's inhabitants? Trouble stirs within the Brotherhood as an old enemy rises from the ashes to reclaim the key to the land and seek it's saviour out... The Lone Wanderer.
1. Prologue

All seemed quiet on this particular night.

Usually, the winds would carry the sound of gunfire, followed by the screams of death from some poor soul meeting their fate. Instead, there was a gentle breeze in the air, carrying the dust up into the sky and horizon beyond.

The ruins of the old Washington D.C could be seen in the distance, once a golden paradise, now reduced to a warzone. Though not on this night, where the streets regularly filled with corpses of the dead, now bare to those long gone.

Outside the city grounds, the rough earth covered the land, burnt tree trunks and vast boulders dispersed about. A couple of rusted out antenna towers remained though rendered inadequate, its components discarded for. Some buildings stood nearby but have long been abandoned, deemed no longer inhabitable, having outlived their usefulness.

Despite this empty picture, hollow in every shape and form, life still thrived.

Close by, a town made up of scrap metal appeared, dug deep within a crater. The city, known as Megaton, flourished with people in their sleep. It was still pretty dark out but a few of its occupants began to wake for the adventures which awaited them.

One stood out by the gates of the metallic city, clad in a duster and cowboy hat, smoking a cigar. He had dark skin and eyes, wore a thick and bushy beard, and appeared to be in his early forties. Strapped to his back, a Chinese assault rifle hung, ready to strike out against anything and anyone who threated the safety of his people.

Though it seemed he had nothing to worry about as peace appeared to have spread across the land, welcoming the tranquillity it so rarely got to experience.

At the Cliffside of a mountain, a canine stirred in its sleep before awakening to the Scenic Overlook. Yawning, it stood on all four paws and stretched out, shaking any weariness of sleep off.

It strolled towards the edge of the overlook and sat there, glued to the spot. For several minutes, it did not move from its position, simply watching as the night sky became to fade away.

Then, as if appearing out of thin air, a figure crouched down beside the canine and began to gaze out towards the fast approaching break of dawn. Holding it by the barrel, the figure rested the butt of his peculiar looking rifle to the ground, his focus set towards the ascending sun.

As the first few beams of light began to creep towards the horizon, the canine let its mouth fall open, panting happily. The figure, with his gaze still fixated to the beacon of light in the horizon, rested his hand on top of the animal's head which was clasped with a Pip-Boy.

With the night sky fading away, so too did the tranquillity that tried to cling to the land a little bit longer.

But this was The Capital Wasteland.

Nothing lasted forever.

Raiders began to awake after a crazed night filled with booze and chems, shouting like mindless animals as they fired bullets into the air. Super Mutants snuck out of their lairs, on the hunt for more human blood, eager to rip their victims apart if need be. Even the wildlife crawled out of their holes, looking for their next meal.

Upon hearing the gunshots ringing out across the wasteland, breaking the serenity in the air, the sheriff snapped his eyes to attention. Disposing of the used cigar, pressing it into the dirt with his boot, he swung the rifle into his hands and stood ready.

The growling canine, showing its teeth, now eyed the direction where the gunfire could be heard. The figure, however, remained unmoving and unaffected both from the gunshots and the fuming animal.

With his hand still atop the creature, he scratched behind the canine's ears, instantly silencing it. He slowly stood up, the canine following suit, held his rifle in both hands as a look of determination past over the man's face in the glow of the morning light.

"Let's go, Dogmeat"

With an approved bark in reply, the two set off and walked in silence, side by side, together. They were heading into the direction of the city, where gunshots and battle cries could be heard in the distance.

As they walked further and further away from Scenic Overlook, they appeared as mere silhouettes in the distance until they were gone completely. Many would have cut and run in the opposite direction by now but not for this man.

For he was known as The Lone Wanderer and may god have mercy on those he came across...

As hell was coming to their doorstep.


	2. Chapter 1 - Lyons' Pride

"Bullshit"

"I'm serious!"

"Like hell you are"

Inside the ruins of the downtown D.C area, currently hidden within the remains of an old building, two people bickered. One was a man, the other a woman, though this was unknown to the eye as they were both fully clad in power armor.

Each held their own sniper rifle, their sights focused on a lone super mutant off in the distant, which had no indication of their presence.

"Think I can't make it?" the riflemen said, adjusting the sights of his scope.

"I know you can't make it, old man" his female companion replied boldly, smirking behind her helmet.

As they spoke, their voices sounded robotic and inhuman, the voice module's inside altering it.

"You sound so certain of yourself" he said without turning to her, his focus on the mutant who seemed bored out of its mind and swung a nail board about aimlessly.

"Because I can guarantee it" she said, her smirk growing larger by the second "You're delusional, brother"

"Well, maybe if someone I knew wouldn't-"

"Just take the damn shot already!"

He was interrupted when a voice of authority broke the banter apart, snapping the pairs' attention to the towering figure behind them. It was their commanding officer who, though too clad in power armor, held a laser rifle in contrast to the long range rifles they carried.

However, despite the helmets they wore, the snipers' could feel the fiery glare burning right through their visors from their commander. Taking that as the indication to shut the hell up, the marksmen twisted back towards his target, held his breath and fell into silence.

The air around them was quiet, almost too quiet, the only sounds coming from the light breeze crossing through. For a minute, the marksmen reserved himself, held his finger back just enough not to pull the trigger.

Then, barely above a whisper, said more to himself than the two people around him "May God have mercy on your soul"

The sound of a bullet followed.

The shot rang out across the entire street before it had hit its target, right in between the eyes. The mutant's head was blown off its shoulders, exploding into a bloody red mess, before collapsing to the ground.

"Mutant down" the marksman said before turning to his not-so-pleased companion, teasingly adding "Told you I'd get it"

"You got lucky" she said, brushing him off "I'd liked to see you try doing that when you're in the meat grinder"

"You'd be surprised by my expertise" he cheekily said, flashing a grin even though nobody could see it.

"All right you two, pack it in!" said the frustrated commander with growing anger "The last thing I need right now is having you two fighting over a dead mutant. Am I understood?"

The commander wasn't usually as annoyed as they were now but after the recent events of the last year, things have been on edge. After the defeat of the Enclave, the remnants of the pre-war American government, the Brotherhood have been hard at work since. They had taken heavy loss after both battles at the Jefferson Memorial and Adams Air Force Base, not to mention all the resources devoted just to keep the purifier secured.

Ah, yes, the purifier, the thing that started it all. The machine of wonders that has managed to do the impossible: make fresh, clean water for any and all. Radiation wasn't rare here in the Capitol Wasteland and clean water was hard to come by. All the lakes and oceans were contaminated and filled with radiation to the point where even drinking it was a risk.

There are people out there who would sell and kill anything, and that meant anything, just to get a drop of the stuff. However, that has all changed since the Brotherhood took control of the purifier, but that wasn't the end of their problems.

The super mutant threat was still a big threat that could have potential brought everything to ruins, everything they had fought for to dust. Short on manpower and resources, it was a miracle they managed to hold the tied back.

The commander, however, didn't believe in miracles. No, they got lucky and as hard as it was to admit that, it was true. When word had spread about the Brotherhood's accomplishments from GNR, also known as Galaxy News Radio, the people of the Wasteland flocked to their doorstep to help prepare for the upcoming storm.

The Brotherhood had received more recruits than they ever had in over the last 20 years since their arrival here in the Capitol city, what's left of it anyway, and with what they salvaged among the Enclave's tech had aided their recovery.

And so, the commander was determined as ever to eradicate anything that threatened to destroy all they had built up till now. It wasn't easy doing what the commander does, day in and day out; leading men into battle, fighting super mutants, and protecting the local populace, only to start over the next day.

It was exhausting…

"Understood, sentinel"

…But then again, not many people were Sarah Lyons.

"Commander!" an abrupt voice called out below them, snapping the female leader back into reality.

Moving towards the edge of the crumbling concrete floor, which threated to collapse at her feet, she could see her second-in-command standing at the ready.

"What is it, Vargas?"

"Gallows just reported back in" he said directly, getting straight to the point "he's confirmed our suspicions"

"Give me a sitrep" she ordered, too busy to notice the floor cracking under the heavy weight of her armor.

"A large pack of super mutants, sentinel. There're en route to GNR as we speak" he spoke with the utmost professionalism "Most likely a raiding party, counting up to 20, maybe more"

"What's Gallows' current position?" she asked, still having unnoticed the cracks in the floor growing larger by the second.

"Falling back to our position, ETA 6 minutes; 10 at most should he encounter any resistance"

"Good work, Paladin. Let Glade and Kodiak know we'll be moving out soon, we don't want to miss that mutant party"

"Understood, sentinel" he saluted before moving off to inform the others, a laser rifle hooked to the back of his armor.

"Colvin, Dusk" she stated, looking over her shoulder "pack your gear and be ready to move out. As soon as we rendezvous with Gallows, we'll move in to hit that raiding party"

She paused in her speech, staring at the two gunslingers she'd known for a long time, and allowed the smallest of grins to appear on her face "Then we'll see who really has the better shot, are you with me?!"

Even though she couldn't see them, the smirks across their faces were evident, and heard the enthusiasm in their voice as they said "Yes, sentinel!"

Passing a curt nod to her fellow men, she turned away and jumped off the side of the ledge, landing with a heavy thud as she hit the ground level. Chunks of concrete landed by her feet as she stood up straight and started barking out orders, too preoccupied to see the hole she'd made above.

"We're on the clock here, people. Get all your shit together and be ready to move out. On the double, move, move!"

* * *

Soon enough, The Lyons' Pride were on the move again, ready and eager to spill some super mutant blood.

But Sarah didn't have some kind of death wish to go charging in to do so, as well as putting the lives of her squad at risk. She had to stay focused and repress her desire to go running into a pack on mutants without some kind of plan of action first.

As she contemplated this, the rest of the squad took the initiative and formed up around her, not that they needed her permission. They had done this countless times before, it had become a standard routine for them.

As always, Vargas took the lead at the front, keeping a trained eye out at each corner they passed. He was Sarah's right hand man and relied on him for his experience and sometimes advice should shit hit the fan. He was a no nonsense, professional, and outstanding soldier with great leadership skill that Sarah liked about the man. The two shared a very close yet mostly unspoken friendship though it never developed into anything more than that, not that the two had considered it in the past.

By his side, Glade was walking in step with him, holding a Gatling laser which he built from scratch. He served as the squad's technician and heavy weapons man. "If it's bigger than a human and goes boom, I'm all over it" he would say should somebody ask. He was the oldest member in Lyons' Pride by far and is regarded as the most well-rounded and experienced Paladin she had encountered before. It had been a clear choice that day when he was hand-picked by Sarah herself to join the squad.

Walking in toll with her at the centre was the "Jack of all trades" as they liked to call him, Greg Bear but they just called him Kodiak. He was by far the strongest and largest member of Lyons' Pride, probably in the entire Brotherhood even, standing taller than the rest of his squad mates with or without power armor which they had to modify to fit him. As his name implies, he's as gruff and vicious as a bear, excelling in close quarter combat with a super sledge which he carried in his hands. As to why they call him the "Jack of all trades" came from the fact he was not specialized in any one area, but doing a bit of everything; recon, demolition, and tactical assault.

Finally, taking up the rear at the back of the group, were the two best marksmen's in the entire Brotherhood, Colvin and Dusk. However, each thought they were better than the other and spiked this love-hate relationship between the two snipers; betting on who got more kills, how far they shoot, even teasing each other at the slightest falter in their skill.

Colvin most definitely was the friendliest and warmest person anyone could encounter, whether they were from the Brotherhood or a complete stranger. Though nobody's ever asked, it was pretty clear he has priest-like tendencies; treating combat as worship, says a prayer for each mutant that he kills, and most likely sees his rifle as a holy object. He extremely experienced and sees himself completely unflappable, according to God's will at least.

Dusk, on the other hand, was a persistent and head-strong woman to say the least. Sarah knew, through experience, that these traits came from proving her worth to the Brotherhood at a greater degree. She didn't earn her place in Lyons' Pride moaning and bitching about the lengths women had to go through to earn the title of the best sharpshooter around.

Though some would disagree...

"Begging for your life already, huh Colvin?" Dusk snickered, earning her a cold glare from the sentinel who turned her head at the comment.

"Praying" he corrected, hands folded around a small cross which he was careful not to break under his power armored fists.

"Not even God can help you improve your shitty aim, old man" she replied, her smirk not having gone unnoticed despite the helmet concealing it underneath.

He did not reply, too engrossed in his thoughts to respond, and continued to pray quietly to himself. Dusk just rolled her eyes, even though no one could see, and focused on the passing buildings for any sign of threats to appear. Glad that the banter was over, Sarah turned back to the street ahead and sighed. One of these days, she would be waiting until things went too far and a full blown argument would erupt between those two.

As if sensing the tension hanging in the air, Kodiak changed the subject "How long until you think we'll run into Gallows?"

Knight Captain Gallows, Lyons' Pride scout and stealth expert, the final member of Lyons' Pride. He, unlike the rest of her fellow squad mates, was far from talkative and isn't much liked by the other members of the Brotherhood though is said to be one of the best soldiers there is. Rumors has it that if an enemy is in the field and sees Gallows, they're already dead and has definitely lived up to his role as "spec-ops" as Sarah's dubbed it.

Yet, as she has come to appreciate his "methods", the rest of the squad is suspicious of the man in question. He tends to disappear into the Wasteland for days, out hunting super mutants, only to return and report back to her. She's seen no harm coming from this other than adding to the mystery surrounding him to the others, especially Dusk who made it obvious she had no trust in the man.

Sarah looked over her, Dusk was still scanning the on-going buildings they passed, raising her rifle ever now and then. She wasn't going to lie, that woman might be an incredible sharpshooter and essential to Lyons' Pride, but she could be a real pain in the ass sometimes.

"With any luck, we should see him in about..." Glade spoke for the first time since leaving the building behind "Well, would you look at that"

"You see something?" Sarah never got her reply as Gallows came running around a corner, a sniper rifle in his hands.

"Speak of the devil..." Dusk muttered to herself as Colvin, who quickly yet gently tucked his cross away, looked up upon hearing her words.

"Gallows may not be the most forthcoming person I've ever met but he is still our brother and you should treat him as such" he said only loud enough for her to heard and quickly joined the rest of the group to avoid any arguments.

She groaned quietly and rushed to catch up with him "Bastard"

The squad came to a halt as Sarah rose a fist into the air, stopping everyone in their place. As they stood, now side by side, saw Gallows from their viewpoint running closer and closer to them.

But something seemed off...

"What the hell is he running from?" enquired Vargas, squeezing his laser rifle tight.

Now that was the question of the year, what the hell was _he_ running from? For as long as Sarah had known him, nobody had ever been able to spot him while out on the field and even if they had, it's like the rumors go... they're already dead. Also, it wasn't in his nature to run away from a fight, even when heavily out-matched. With the question hanging in the air but with no response, Sarah was about to call out to him but then saw it.

"Oh shit..."

The group stared in silent horror as a massive wave of super mutants, bigger than they've ever seen before, poring down the street and heading straight towards them.


	3. Chapter 2 - The Lone Wanderer

"OPEN FIRE!"

Sarah didn't need to say it twice and the squad were more than willing to obey. She brought her laser rifle into the air and had only taken a single shot, striking a super mutant dead in the chest, before the others followed.

Vargas was at the front, aiming with precision and disposed of two mutants and seriously injured another one, all of which were carrying sledge hammers. The one he hadn't managed to kill fell to it's knees, using the weapon for support, and clutched a huge hand around oversized ribs. It growled in pain and looked up only to meet a bullet which struck the head and dropped dead to the ground.

Colvin didn't waste any time and turned his sights away from the mutant's corpse and fired off four more shots, three hitting each of their targets in between the eyes while the fourth dug itself into a mutant's throat, gurgling on it's own blood. Wrapping a hand around it to try and stem the bleeding, it was quickly cut down along with two more mutants which were behind it by a stream of lasers.

Glade dragged the unrelenting heat of his weapon across a line of mutants and discarded an additional four of it's members, steam coming off of their burning bodies as they fell. As he ran out of ammo, inclined to do some more damage, he severed an arm of a mutant which was carrying an assault rifle. It dropped the fallen weapon along with it's limb to the ground, blood leaking out. Before either could do anything else, a bullet to the head quickly ended it's miserably existence.

Dusk, coming up on his rear, wasn't wasting anytime counting up her kills with each bullet that struck. A super mutant holding a nail board went down first, dead before it even hit the ground, one. Next, a pair with assault rifles tried to bombard her with bullets but before they could even pull the triggers, two shots cut through the air almost simultaneously before they too drooped dead on the ground, two, three. Then, above the mutants' advancement was an arm suspended in the air, a grenade grasped in hand. A devious grin crossed her face as she took aim at the small oval shaped object, which appeared no more than a blur in the crowd, and took the shot.

Super mutants, left, right, and centre went flying into the air, four, five, six, seven.

Screaming to the top of her lungs at her small victory, barely cutting over the sound of battle, Dusk failed to notice a super mutant coming up her rear. It had come out of a nearby alley, flanking the Brotherhood party who appeared too preoccupied at the force in front of them. The mutant, armed with a shovel, was about to make short work of the now panic struck woman, who turned just in time to see the weapon coming down upon her head.

The blow knocked her clean off her feet and dropped to the ground, her weapon clattering after her. Her helmet absorbed most of the blow and barely felt a dull ache in her head, probably due to the adrenaline coursing through her, she reasoned. Looking up, the mutant was about to deliver the killing blow, weapon over head, and she threw her arms up to protect herself.

It never came.

Kodiak, who had hung back until now, swung his super sledge with an al mighty strength upon him and struck his enemy right in the face. The mutant, having not expected the sudden attack, flew backwards and landed on the ground with a loud thud. Dusk lowered her arms and caught the end of her brother's valiant rescue, watching as he pulled a laser pistol out of nowhere and unloaded the entire clip into the mutant as it rose it's head to greet him.

The threat, now over for the moment, turned back to his sister in arms and offered a hand, which she gratefully took after gaining ahold of her weapon again. She wanted to thank him for his rescue and apologize for her reckless behaviour but as soon as she was on her feet again, a couple of super mutants managed to break through and charged at them, weapons raise.

Both were temporarily fazed at their sudden appearance but before either could recover and retaliate, the mutants were quickly turned into a pile of ashes. They turned to see their sentinel, aiming with deadly precision, taking out another two mutants before her rifle clipped empty.

"There's too many of them!" she roared over the ongoing battle, replacing a fresh clip into her gun before taking fire again, Kodiak and Dusk now at her rears.

Despite having killed over twenty of their opponents in the initiate attack, the stream of super mutants seemed never ending, and Sarah briefly wondered if they had even made a dent within the force. Her question was answered as a mixture of bullets and lasers shot out on the ground before them and ricocheting off their armor, forcing them back.

"Retreat!" she yelled as the Brotherhood party starting backing away from the advancing force, shooting as they went "Fall back and regroup!"

Though this wasn't the first time Lyons' Pride have fought overwhelming odds, coming out on top every time, this was by far the worse they have encountered. Usually, the super mutants would track in smaller packs then this, sniffing out and cornering their prey before they pounced. Even when she remembered the time they faced super mutants overrunning the Galaxy News Radio station, not to mention the additional force of a Behemoth on their side, never had their been this many together at once.

Sarah decided to lead them back towards the building they had previously set up base camp in and hold out until every single one of those god damned super mutants were sent back to whatever hell they came from. Or so she thought.

"What the hell does he think he's doing!?"

Gallows, however, had a different plan of action in mind.

At his retreat from the mutant party earlier, thankfully not within their line of sights when they opened fire, he crossed past them and immediately dropped to one knee, turned, and joined in the fight. He had positioned himself where he was practically in the middle of the street and picked them off like flies, one by one. As Lyons' Pride made their retreat and backed further and further away, he had yet to even move from the same spot he had resided in.

"Gallows!" Sarah practically roared with rage "I said fall back and regroup, soldier!"

He didn't listen. Instead, he pulled a grenade out and tossed it towards the ongoing wave of super mutants which threatened to run him over. As soon as it hit the ground, an explosion filled the air and brought the mutants to a temporarily halt, which he took the chance to bolt down towards a side street.

"Gallows!" she called out to him but didn't give the slightest indication he had heard her and disappeared into the distance.

She cursed that man for his incompetence and made a promise to knock that man in two once this was all over before she ordered everyone to follow him, Sarah in the lead.

"Where the fuck does he think he's going!?" Glade spoke at the rear, turning back ever now and then to immobilise of any mutants that threatened to get too close.

"Who cares! That son of a bitch is going to get us all killed!" Dusk's voice was laced with venom as she spotted an nearby alley in the passing with a mutant hidden inside, disposing of it quickly with her rifle, glad she didn't make the same mistake again.

"Save your breath!" Colvin paused mid-sentence and took a shot at a mutant carrying a missile launcher from behind, killing it quickly before it could fire on them "We have bigger things to worry about!"

Sarah silently agreed and focused on her surroundings as they passed, in hot pursuit behind their seemingly crazed comrade. The street appeared thinner than the one they had been fighting at only mere moments ago and was littered with vehicles of the past. Though their wasn't much space for them to maneuverer about, it most certainly did slow the pace of their pursuers.

But so it did their own.

"Incoming!"

They turned their heads back in time to see a super mutant had retrieved his fallen comrade's missile launcher and took aim towards them before the flying projectile began soaring though the air, getting closer and closer with each second. Fortunately, it's aim was way off and flew right over their heads but they still instinctively lowered their forms as it passed, hitting an old car further up the street which went up in flames at the contact.

Then, as they passed the demolished vehicle smoking in flames, an idea struck Sarah's mind.

Acting quickly, she reached into one of the hidden compartments of her suit and pulled out a grenade. She stared at it for a second, turned to see the mutants gaining ground on them, and shouted out a warning. She tossed the firebomb, not aiming directly towards the mutants themselves, but the vehicle in passing which landed directly on it's hood.

Now she just hoped their was still some, if any, fuel left inside that wreck of a car to explode!

Thankfully, her question was answered in the response of a fire ball going up into the air. The vehicle, now engulfed in flames, flew up into the air where it remained suspended for a second before crash landing back onto the ground. Some of the most unfortunate super mutants who got in it's way, looked up at the flying object over their heads, their screams cut short as it came tumbling down again.

Sarah allowed the smallest of smiles to cross her face as the squad praised at a job well done before moving on.

* * *

For the next few minutes, the chase turned into a game of brahmin and deathclaw; The Pride tried to out maneuverer their pursuers while the super mutants followed with an urge to get ahold of their prey and ripe their inside out. Having been too preoccupied with the super mutants from doing what they so desired, had lost visual of Gallows during all of the commotion.

"Does anyone see him?!"

They searched desperately for their comrade, wondering if the super mutants had somehow gotten ahold of him, before they had no choice but to move on from the still advancing horde upon them.

"Now what are we going to do!?" Kodiak inquired, taking pot shots at the mutants with his pistol, the super sledge strung across his back.

"Keep moving and don't stop!" Vargas tone was both firm and fierce as he spoke "We're exposed out here!"

Sarah had to agree, they were indeed exposed out here on the streets of D.C with no cover, no back-up, and nowhere to hold out in sight anywhere. Though it pained her to leave one of her men behind, she had to think of her squad and their safety.

Up ahead, there was a street breaking off into two different directions. The left path, which appeared to be an old highway, was covered with rubble, debris, and old run down vehicles. Though it looked clear of any hostile inhabitants, it would prove to be difficult to navigate through. On the right path, however, was clear of any such obstacles. She was just about to announce where to head towards next but was cut short as more mutants appeared, blocking their path.

Cursing out loud, they had no choice now but to turn the other way and hope for the best.

As she assumed so before, it proved difficult for them to move through the street and if it wasn't for their power armor which they wore, might have tripped over the passing obstacles. Forcing herself to focus, Sarah looked towards the vehicle directly in her path and, without bothering to go around, jumped on top of the roof and lurched forward. She landed as gracefully as her armor would allow her to before heading down the road, the horde trailing behind.

Fast approaching, a bridge overhead appeared on top of their heads and, as they passed under it, saw what Sarah presumed was some sort of abandoned checkpoint in front of them. An old military truck remained stationary behind a blockade of sandbags, cement blockades, and a few skeletons wearing old army wear. Past this lead them towards a tunnel where they could seek sanctuary.

"DAMN IT!"

If the entrance wasn't covered with cars and rubble, blocking their path and trapping them in place. The super mutants, realizing they had trapped their prey at long last, approached through and over the rubble, eager to get their hands on them. Sarah looked back towards the horde fast approaching, cursing their luck, with a single thought in mind.

They had nowhere left to run.

Now, it would be a fight to the death.

"Spread out and find cover!" quickly taking control of the situation, she ran facing towards the mutants and fired upon them "We're making our stand!"

Just as Sarah ran out of ammo, she threw herself back first into the cement blockade with Vargas and Kodiak by her side. Glade hung back a bit, however, taking cover at the rear end of the truck where he could move more freely but still kill anything from getting too close. That just left Colvin and Dusk, who had decided to set up near the mouth of the collapsed entrance, using the vehicles as cover.

"Lord, have mercy..." Colvin mumbled a quick prayer, silently hoping for a miracle.

So it began.

Fortunately, most of the super mutants appeared to be carrying melee weapons such as boards and bats with the odd one carrying super sledges every now and then. As they grew closer and prepared to charge through, they were shoot down from a distance by Sarah and Vargas, holding down the fort. Those lucky enough to have gotten arms length towards them were quickly beaten to the ground by Kodiak, smashing their skulls in, before returning to position. With his trusty old laser pistol in hand, he helped fend off the mutants from getting too close, making every shot count.

Despite this, there was still a significant large number carrying weapons, both ballistic and advanced alike, such as assault and laser rifles. Any who tried to fire upon the three at the front, Glade quickly came to the assist, mowing down the mutants before they could inflicted any real damage. Those which he couldn't kill were momentarily distracted, more than enough time for the front runners to take them out.

Some among the horde carried explosives and heavy artillery though they were quickly taken down from two Colvin and Dusk's part, who had started off a bet on who can kill the most mutants, easing the worry slightly of being overrun at any moment.

"That's twelve so far!" Colvin shouted over the intense battle, ducking behind cover to reload his rifle. Just as he loaded a fresh clip into his gun and popped back out to take the shot, Dusk beat him to it, stealing his kills.

"HA HA HA!" Dusk cheered "seventeen more kills for mama! Better step up your game, old man!"

"I would like to point out that-" he said, taking a shot with his gun mid-sentence "-cheaters never win but in this case, I'll let it slide this time!"

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A CHEATER!?" she screamed with sudden aggressiveness, taking out another three mutants "SEXIST PRICK!"

Unaware of the conflict occurring between the two sharpshooters, Sarah quickly ducked behind cover again, unloading a used clip with laboured breath. So far, they have held off the fast approaching numbers of mutants from overwhelming them but she knew it was only a matter of time. They were just too many of them with too little ammo to go by.

At risk of having her head blown off, she peaked out of cover and assessed the situation. The waves of mutants she found on the other side greeted her and though their size had barely withered, they were slow going. The terrain covered with piles of brick and concrete bided The Pride a few precious seconds just to keep the ongoing force at bay.

However, that was the least of her worries at the moment.

While Sarah swept her eyes around the area for a possible escape route, glancing up high on the bridge, a lone figure stood above. Squinting her eyes to get a better look at the said figure, she noticed it was carrying something big and heavy looking on it's shoulder. Holding it with two hands and facing down towards the end of the road, it's gaze appeared to be focused on two things...

Colvin and Dusk.

Before she could turn and shout out a warning, a laser beam out of nowhere hit her full force in her face, knocking her to the ground.

"SARAH!" Glade screamed to the top of his lungs, eying the super mutant overlord responsible. Consumed by rage, he focused all of his attack on the beast in his sights, ammo running dry and mutants pouring in.

Vargas, shocked at the downfall of their Sentinel, recovered just as quickly as it came and ordered Kodiak for a status report while he cover fired for him. Ducking low to prevent the same fate their fallen leader had obtained to befall on him, he crouch walked towards her and pulled her back against the safety of cover. As Kodiak went to remove the now half-burnt, half-shattered helmet which she wore, her own hand reached up and yanked it off her head.

The moment that hunch of scrap of a helmet was off and tossed to the side, now showed the face of a beautiful woman who looked like she walked through hell and back. Mixed with her blond hair and blue eyes, her face was covered with grim and sweat though Kodiak wasn't sure it was from the on-going battle or her near death experience just a minute ago.

But knowing Sarah, she was probably just really pissed off right now!

Before any words could be exchanged, the figure from above which turned out to be a super mutant carrying a missile launcher, fire a shot directly towards the two sharpshooters off in the distance. Glade, taking cover behind the beat up old truck once again after having dealt with the overlord, saw the missile flying over his head and towards his comrades.

"GET DOWN!" was the only thing he could say as the missile hit their target.

Having noticed the missile upon them, Colvin and Dusk dived for the ground as it hit the tunnel's collapsed wreckage. Though having avoided that, the towering pile of concrete exploded into the air and, having little to no time at all to react, the pair were immediately covered by the piles upon piles on rock. Having witnessed all of this and again consumed by a burning fury, Glade attempted to shoot the mutant above them down but it was a lost cause for the low range weapon which he carried.

Without Glade's weapon keeping the mutants at bay and the loss of their sharpshooters, the mutants regained their footing and drew closer to the remaining members of the Pride.

Temporarily fazed from the blast, Sarah shook her head out of her trance and watched the chaos unfold before her. Kodiak was by her side, popping out of cover every now and then trying to fend off the massive horde with his pistol. Vargas was doing the same, only with his laser rifle, and as if realization had hit him, Glade snapped his attention back to the horde, swearing loudly as he saw his weapon was out of ammo. She search for Colvin and Dusk off in the distance but came up with nothing other than a huge pile of concrete which now resided where they had been before.

Watching the events unfurl, the mutants almost upon them and what's left of The Pride trying to oppress the oppressors, there was only one thought that came to her mind.

She failed.

She failed herself as leader and Sentinel of Lyons Pride. She failed her men, her comrades, her brothers and sister. She failed all the people back at the Brotherhood, people who looked up to them and admired. She failed the people of the Wasteland, people who relied on her to protect them from the very beasts which we about to slaughter them all.

And most of all, she failed her father.

She wondered what he was doing at this very moment; tending to the duties as the Elder of the Brotherhood, writing off reports, checking up on various projects, and discussing with Rothchild the repairs on Liberty Prime? Or was he preoccupied of the well-being of his daughter, thinking about her where he sat, unknown to him that she might be ripped open like a can of cram at any minute?

Knowing him, it was both.

She chuckled at the thought, finding difficultly at this small action, and took in a laboured breath. Her eyes averted to her weapon laid on the ground and reached down to grasp it in her hands. As soon as it did, she fell back against the concrete blockade, crumbling with every shot and laser fired upon it. She checked to see if it was fully loaded and, with the last of her ammo snapped into her rifle, let out the last breath she would every breath.

Or so she thought...

Above her, the mutant now having set it's sights on them with the missile launcher, was about to take aim and fire when suddenly it was knocked off it's feet and pushed to the side. At the same time, it's finger gripped the trigger and fired downward towards the passing mutants below. It screamed, plundering down after the missile and the mutants realized too late what was happening before an explosion filled the air.

Super mutants went flying up high in the air, some flailing while others remained still, before they all came crashing back down to meet their fates.

At that moment, everything, including the very air went still. Both the super mutants and Lyons' Pride looked up to see a silhouette standing above them, the sun to it's back. It showed the outline of a man, holding a gun Sarah had never seen before, standing by the very edge of the rail without a care for his safety. Though it was hard to see, she could see he was wearing a duster flying with the wind and a stormchaser hat concealing most of his face.

If Sarah wasn't at the verge of being ripped apart from the super mutants, she would have thought the scene to be badass.

Having recovered from the sudden appearance of this stranger, the super mutants started shouting insults like "stupid human" and "stupid little man" up towards him and took aim from below. It was at that point when Sarah Lyons, for the first time in her life, ever agreed with the super mutants and hoped to be the last.

Without any hesitation, he jumped off the rail and plunged straight down towards them with what Sarah thought to be the biggest grin she'd ever seen on his face.


	4. Chapter 3 - His Name

"LOOK OUT BELOW!"

The words echoed throughout the valley, surpassing the screeches and screams of the mutants below, where they awaited with weapons aimed and pointed. However, before the ripple of bullets could penetrate the air, sudden eruptions filled the ground where they stood, dust spewing everywhere. Taken by surprise, the mutants staggering about with the few exception bumping into one another; they were not prepared for what was to come next.

The stranger smirked a little for a job well done the grenades he discreetly let loose right under the mutant's feet but there was still a job to do. Free-falling through the air after this thought, he brought his rifle facing downwards, took aim and the sound of the weapon's discharge screeched through the air before being enveloped into the cloud.

Sarah, along with Vargas and Kodiak, watched the events unfold by the safety of their now crumpled blockade with Glade in the background by the old military truck, just sub-consciously surprised it hasn't been engulfed into a ball of flames yet. She was silent, no one spoke about the sudden arrival of this stranger or how eerily quiet the very air was, not a sound could be heard beyond the cloud of smoke in front of them.

Despite this, there were a million questions coursing through her head during this brief moment of silence. Who was this stranger? What was he doing here? Why was he helping them?

She could think no further as the moment of silence was quickly replaced to the familiar sound of stomping feet and raging fits that broke through as the dust settled, revealing several mutants surrounding the man. Standing on top of a dead mutant, a huge hole in it's chest, he stood totally unfazed both from the death drop he just performed and the super mutants slowly closing in on him.

As if jumping off of a bridge wasn't enough of a death wish!

The mutants, those with a gun, scrambled to raise their weapons in the air and take aim while those armed with bats and boards alike rushed to crush him to a pulp. Kodiak, who sat crouched in between his superiors, suddenly jumped up from cover and was about to shout a warning to the stranger but the sounds of bullets and lasers alike beat him to it. The stranger was dead.

Or so they thought.

Expecting to watch in horror as the man was filled with lead, burnt in ash, and bashed into pieces, the group was surprised to see the stranger barrel rolled away from the hail fire, which drove straight into the group of melee wielding mutants instead, obliterating them. Coming into a crouch position in front of a super mutant, he looked up to see it had a super sledge over it's head, ready to strike down upon him.

Before it even had a chance of doing so, the man skillfully brought his weapon up and at point blank, shot the mutant dead in the chest. The sound of the shot rang so loud in the air, even The Pride could heard it from the distance, the force it held blew the mutant sky high and straight into a pack of mutants, staggering them.

Vargas yanked the massive form of a dumbfound Kodiak back into the safety of what remained of their cover, his face in awe and astonishment underneath his helmet, as Glade took this chance to move across the street and slid up next to Sarah.

"You alright, commander?" Glade inquired, discarding his empty Gatling Laser to the ground near them.

"We're fine" Sarah spoke, snapping her attention to him after her eyes lingered on the battle before them "What about the others?"

Glade turned his head in the direction of the now collapsed tunnel, Sarah following his lead "Missile missed Colvin and Dusk but they went under after the hit" Glade indicated as he spoke, first towards the mouth of the entrance where the blast hit and the piles of rubble and concrete where the others were most likely concealed under.

Worry building up inside of her, Sarah turned back towards Glade "You sure they weren't hit?"

"Not from here" he responded with a shake of his head, looking back at her "I can go and check but I'll need some help in case we need to dig them out"

"Take Kodiak" Vargas, who had remained silent up until this point, ducking his head up every now and then to watch the proceeding battle taking place "You'll need him for this one"

"What do you think I am, a shovel?" Kodiak replied, earning glares from his companions, Sarah's the most frightening "What about him?"

Redirecting everyone's attention back towards the battle, The Pride now forgotten, the super mutants sole focus was all on the duster clad individual who was single-handily holding his own. To his left side, a mutant with a Chinese assault rifle stood whereas to his right stood another only with a combat shotgun. Just when they fired upon him, he barrel rolled forward and away again.

The mutant wielding the shotgun was instantly killed by a hail of bullets striking it's chest and head but not before the blast of the shotgun struck the other mutants assault rifle, damaging it beyond repair. With it's weapon disable, the mutant attempted to beat on the human with it's rifle like a club but moved only a few steps before it's brains were blown out from the pistol said human pulled out of nowhere before redirecting his efforts towards the next mutants.

"He needs help!" Kodiak's voice was filled with worry for their savior and attempted to raise, sledge in hand, but was once again pulled back down by Vargas, only just managing to do so.

"So do your brother and sister. They're your priority right now, not him"

Vargas was always known as a man of utmost professionalism and even though he was just as surprised by the appearance of this stranger, he saw this as the perfect opportunity to find the others and get the hell out of this death trap... even if that meant leaving the man for the mutants.

"We can't just leave him! We need to do something!"

Kodiak may not have been a man born into the Brotherhood when they first took him in years ago but they were a bunch of strangers who saved him from a land no child should ever be brought up in. He was here today because of a group of strangers, who were now his whole life... and if it wasn't for this stranger, his whole life would have been over by now.

"We don't need to do anything, that goes doubly for you. You have your orders, now get it done!" Vargas brought his head as close as he could to Kodiak's to the point where their visors almost touched. They stared each other down for a few seconds before Kodiak relented, setting his sledge down and turning towards Glade and Sarah.

"Let's go get their asses" and with that, he moved quickly and cautiously towards their buried comrades.

"Right behind you" Glade took a few steps forward and turned back to look at Sarah "We'll try to be quick, just keep your heads down"and before anything else could be said, he turned and followed behind Kodiak.

Sarah watched them go, glaring slightly at Glade, knowing his words were aimed at her but let the matter go. There were more important things to think about right now so she shuffled towards Vargas, weapon in hand, until she sat crouched by his right rear watching the battle.

"I'm glad you handled that back there" Sarah spoke without turning, her eyes set on the duster clad figure with a pistol in his hand, probably 44. magnum, now pulled out a sawed-off shotgun with his other hand and shot a mutant with a baseball bat who was stupid enough to charge straight towards him.

"But he's right" Vargas didn't turn his head towards her but after all these years with him, she knew he would protest "We can't just sit here and do nothing"

"Which is why as soon as we get the others, we get the hell out of here... somehow" as he said this, he turned his head around the valley, looking for an escape route. They definitely can't go back the way they came, not with the raging battle before them blocking the path. Maybe they could find a weak point in the walls and scale them but quickly dismissed the idea; their armour wasn't designed for such a task and even if they could climb out, the chances of their fallen comrades either unconscious or injured caused problems.

"Are you suggesting we just leave this waster for dead? You know that's not how we do things"

Sarah had dedicated nearly her entire life not only to upholding the values of The Brotherhood but as well as to defending the people of The Wasteland. To leave now would mean certain death to the stranger and all her beliefs would have been for nothing if she were to run now.

"And what would you suggest we do? We're low on ammo, down by two, and still have no sign of Gallows. Attacking now would be suicide"

"Jumping off a bridge and diving head first into a horde of super mutants is suicide. Besides, look at them all" she indicated towards the horde of super mutants, who's numbers have been significantly reduced since their first appearance from earlier. However, there were still quite still a few remaining and she knew leaving a group like this alive would only lead to more death and destruction in their path.

"We can't let them live. We have to act, now" speaking with certainty, eyes never wavering, Sarah brought her rifle up and aimed towards the horde.

Turning his head towards her, Vargas spoke with a firm yet understanding tone "I know you'd like nothing more than to kill every single one of those bastards, I don't question you for it. But we've got to consider our current situation and right now, we're not equipped to deal with a force of that size. We'll just be digging in our own graves here, Sarah"

As he spoke, her eyes remained focused ahead, never once turning to him. She could almost chuckle at his words; he was trying to appeal to her. She's known this man her entire life, down right to his very fiber, and he would never speak using her first name, especially out on the field.

He continued with a sigh "The way I see it, we only have two options on our hands; we live to fight another day or... we die in the name of Elder Lyons" Sarah almost flinched at the mention of her father "The choice is clear, isn't it, Sarah?"

Though she remained silent, her mind was coursing with a million questions. Was he right? Maybe she was getting in over her head thinking she could take a horde of mutants on her own and still get to walk away? Was she even planning on walking away from this at all? Did she intend to die trying to eradicate all these mutants and if so, what would happen after? To her squad mates, to her brothers and sisters back home, to her father? What would happen to him once she was gone?

With her resolve weakening, she lowered her rifle just by the slightest when her eyes caught movement in the still on-going battle. It appears that the super mutants have finally boxed in their assailant and decided to draw this fight out for as long as possible before the finishing blow came. Though she could barely see over the massive green and orange heads, the lone fighter faced off against three mutants, two regulars and a master by the looks of it. The guns she'd seen the man previously hold were no longer in sight, for the exception of his rifle strapped to his back, and now replaced in his hand a combat knife.

At the sight of this, Sarah wanted to march right through the crowd of super mutants and strangle the stranger to death. Here he was, three against one, mutants completely surrounded him, and all he had to stand for it was a knife!? She almost wished the mutants would just be done with this and finish him off for good. As the mutants moved in for the kill, she spoke with resolve and certainty.

"Yeah, it is"

"Sarah, NO!"

Within a second, she stood towering over his hunched form along with her rifle, aiming straight towards the master mutant ready to crush his assailant with a super sledge. However, before she could pull the trigger and Vargas get a hold of her weapon, a shot rang out across the valley followed by the master's crumpled form collapsing to the ground, out of their sight from the horde in between them. Looking up towards the bridge, they were surprised to see the familiar sight of power armour in their view.

"Gallows!"

Although they were in this mess because of him in the first place, it was a relief in that moment to see one of her men she thought almost dead back with them. Unfortunately, the mutants didn't share her solace, pointing and screaming as they did previously.

Having made his presence known, the mutants directed their focus on him and fired. As the bullets and lasers came flying towards him, expecting him to fall in their path, he vanished into thin air, the projectiles slicing through the air where he stood only a second ago. The mutants stared up the bridge dumb folded, unaware of what just happened.

However, before they could come up with any solutions with their simple-minded brains, if they had any, he reappeared onto a different section of the bridge and fired. The bullet cut through the air and took the head of a mutant but before the others could react, he vanished once again. Though the mutants had no idea how this was possible, it certainly made them furious and they started shouting, shooting and screaming towards the bridge in the hopes to kill the disappearing man.

No matter how many bullets were shot or how many lasers flew in the air, Gallows appeared too quick for them, taking one shot after another. Each round always nailed it's target in the same spot; right in-between the eyes. Only Gallows could hit a target so precise while under extreme heavy fire. Good thing he had that stealth mod installed into his suit or else the bullets would be all over him by now.

With the mutants attention focused upon him, the stranger took this as his chance to reach for the super sledge of the fallen master. However, just as he was about to bend and make a grab for it, he caught the eye of a mutant turning towards him, a hunting rifle in it's huge hands. Just as it was lining him up for the shot, the combat knife still in his hand, quickly flipped it over to hold it by the blade and threw it.

The corpse of the mutant fell to the ground, limbs spread out everywhere, with the knife deep embedded into it's skull. Noticing one of their comrades dead on the ground with a knife in it's head, they turned towards the one responsible and charged with open mouths and weapons overhead. Seemingly without any effort, the man heaved the massive weapon off the ground and in a swift motion, threw it towards the oncoming mutants. Spinning several times before reaching it's destination, the weapon collided with the eight foot beasts, sending them to the ground.

 _Who is this guy?_ Sarah thought in disbelief, eyeing the man in question.

If she had any thoughts assuming this was just some random wastelander who came to their aid, more so a crazy and suicidal one at that, were crushed the second he picked that weapon up. Just the weight of it alone was near impossible for the average human to lift without the aid of power armour... or the strength of a super mutant.

The sound of Gallows' rifle going off again snapped her out of her thoughts and she shook her head. Assuming they lived through all this, she was going to personally question this newcomer and get to the bottom of this. But right now, there were more pressing issues at hand.

"Seems we've found our missing man" Vargas muttered, gazing up towards the bridge "Maybe we'll get to live through this after all"

 _*THUMP*_

A full, deep, and prolonged roar was uttered, so loud their bones stiffened and blood froze. In the silence that followed, the thumping of something massive stomped the ground and grew closer and closer with each step. Sarah and Vargas were crouched behind the remains of the fallen blocade, Glade and Kodiak paused in their search for their allies in the mist of the rubble, Gallows now uncloaked with his rifle still aimed at the horde below, and the newcomer along with said mutants turned their eyes down the road.

 _*THUMP* *THUMP*_

At first, all there was to see were old wrecked cars, piles of rubble, and the dust covered street in the distant. Then, around the corner, an orange foot the size of a truck came into view, followed by an equally sized hand taking a hold of the wall beside it, fingers digging into the concrete. Pushing the rest of it's form out into the open, they were greeted to legs taller than trees, arms thicker than steel, an a face that screamed the words "Death was upon you".

A Behemoth.

Towering over thirty-feet tall, the enormous super mutant was suited with makeshift armour that looked like it was made from junk, a huge trolley cage hung from it's back containing odds and ends Sarah preferred not knowing about, and a huge fire hydrant club held in it's hand. Standing in full high, it's entire body covered the street and blocked their only means of escape.

For a second, it remained still, appearing to be observing the scene before it and probably wondering how pathetic they all seemed underneath it's feet. Then, it leaned forward for a second roar, twice as booming than the previous one with arms extending and neck pulsing, blaring like a war cry before a warrior charged. And no sooner as that thought crossed the Sentinel's mind, it did just that and came bearing towards them, it's massive legs covering more ground than she liked.

"So much for that plan..." Vargas sighed, frustration laced into his voice. He turned to the woman next to him, certain this was the last conversation they were going to have "What're our orders, Commander?"

She was silent for a few seconds, watching as most of the mutants were parting away from their great warrior's path, though some remained where they were, fists moving up and down in the air in a manner of cheering the great beast. Sarah could feel her bones vibrating underneath her armour with each step the Behemoth took, rattling her brain as she thought of an answer.

"We die in the name of Elder Lyons"

Once again, she stood from cover and proceeded with her original plan, shooting as many mutants as possible. Vargas followed her lead and the two stood side by side as they started dropping targets here and there. They didn't bother shooting at the Behemoth, despite the ground it was covering, it was still a long ways off before within range, not that it'll do much even if they tried.

The mutants, now turned away facing their champion, were caught by surprised at the sudden attack but quickly recovered. They aimed and began firing upon them which forced The Pride back into cover. However, with the mutants now focused on their new targets, they failed to notice the grenade that rolled underneath their feet and before they even knew what was happening, an explosion followed by the corpses unfortunate enough to have been caught in the blast flew into the air, dust covering the air which they stood a second ago.

Emerging from the dust cloud, the man who must have had the luck of the devil came barrel rolling into the opening before he took off towards the pair, who watched from the corner of cover. From her position, Sarah saw one of the mutants gave chase to him and was about to make a grab for him.

"Watch out!"

One second, it's hand was reaching out for the stranger, the next it was crumpled to the ground with it's hand still outstretched towards him. He turned to see the fallen form of the mutant behind him, stopping in his footsteps, as the light shimmered above the dead corpse before it gave way to the sight of Gallows. She watched as he and their newcomer stood facing each other, no words spoken, though she did catch the slight incline of their heads to the side.

Then the two proceeded towards them without keeping their heads down. At first, Sarah wanted to scream at them to do so but then she noticed that the mutants had stopped firing at them, instead they watched as the Behemoth grew closer to them.

The second Gallows was within hearing range, the wrath of Sentinel Lyons was upon him "Where the HELL have you BEEN!?"

"On the bridge" came his casual reply, though he stood in perfect soldier attention towards her, back straight and eyes forward.

Though in the mist of her outburst, she didn't notice this, fuming at his response "I specifically ordered you to fall back and retreat but instead you run off and leave us in the dust! You disobeyed direct orders and now, because of you, we're trapped here in our soon to be graves!"

He stood with indifference, remaining stoic before her and she was about to have another go at him but someone beat her to the punch.

"Ah, don't be so hard on poor Irving here. He couldn't have known you'd be crazy enough to follow in the first place!" came the jokingly yet familiar voice of the stranger, setting her blazing glare towards him.

"I told you not to call me by that name..." the Knight Captain spoke up, though his tone as always remained emotionless.

"You, pack it in!" pointing an accusing finger at the spec ops specialist before turning back towards the stranger "And you-!"

All of a sudden, the words died in her throat and her eyes widened slightly at the man standing so casually before her. Having been correct earlier from her first observation, the man was indeed wearing a duster with a stormchaser hat upon his head. Though now in much closer proximity, she noticed the details she'd missed; a black shirt underneath the duster, which was rolled at the elbows, grey-white pants, high boots that ended just under the knee, and finger-less gloves.

However, what caught her attention was the sight of the man's face, not sure whether to believe what she was seeing or not. Though mostly concealed, the ends of his shoulder length chestnut colored hair stuck out accompanied by a big bushy beard across his face that resembled much like her father's. But it was his eyes, those bright green ones of his that shone almost like a glowing ghoul's skin did she recognize him.

"Surprised to see me?" he said in a cheerful tone, flashing his white bright smile towards her.

Unaffected by it, she continued to stare at him, her mind twirling with too many questions and very little answers. At least now she could answer her previous ones from his first arrival; a man whom she knew, he was here to help them, and it was because they knew each other which is why he was helping them out. However, this didn't help answer the many more questions developing in her mind.

Just as she was about to speak, he twirled away from her, turning his attention towards the horde "Aaaanyway, enough chit-chat. It's time for the big event!"

She glared at him, irritated for ignoring her but then let the matter go when she turned her head towards the horde and, more precisely, the behemoth she had all but forgotten about. It was close now, so close she could practically see it closing in on them. Now in closer proximity, not too close thankfully, she could see it's face smudged in dirt with saliva running down it's chin, eyeing them like a can of cram.

Not that she liked cram, anyway.

"Fallback!" Vargas suddenly shouted, causing her to snap out of her thoughts and turn towards him "Fallback and regroup!"

With that, Vargas took off towards the others down the street, vaulting over Glade's discarded Gatling Laser as he went. She started after him but only took a few steps before turning back to see Gallows had moved to stand side by side with his new companion.

"Are you two deaf!? Fallback and regroup now!" now Sarah was absolutely furious, enraged, infuriated... the words alone didn't do any justice to how she felt right now. Twice in the same day, the same man had disobeyed her yet he stood there without a care in the world and would mostly likely be crushed to death by a behemoth at any second.

"And miss the show?!" came the shocked reply of their savior, back facing her "No way!"

At that moment, within that second, Sarah seriously debated with herself if he was really a man or just a child. Debate time over, she saw the behemoth passing under the bridge with it's eyes set on two of the most suicidal men she'd ever met, before she made a dash for them. However, just as she took the first step, the man-child brought his arm up with his infamous Pip-Boy and hit the button.

Which brought the entire bridge down...

Explosions erupted from the support beams underneath the structure and soon after, the crumples of concrete fell upon the shell shocked mutants below. Some tried in vain to escape the boulder bombardment falling over them while the rest stared up watching as death came casting down towards them. Either the behemoth was consumed with rage or just didn't really care, it was a price paid dearly as the bridge crushed the massive and supposed unstoppable creature to the ground, disappearing into the cloud of dust.

Sarah didn't have time to watch any more as a dust wave came rushing towards them and quickly covered her face just as it hit her. The force of the cloud pushed against her and if it wasn't for her power armor, she was sure it would have knocked her off her feet. However, any thoughts regarding the mutants or her squad vanished as she tried not to swallow any dust going down her throat.

A few seconds passed, or maybe it was a few minutes for all she knew, the wave cease yet the dust remained. Lowering her arm and squinting, she searched and waded through but dared not to call out her position, in fear the mutants would hear. Her worry soon disappeared as she saw the figures of the two men, stoic and indifferent to their surroundings, their gaze still laying ahead.

Whether it was on the alert for the presence of more mutants or just plainly admiring the destruction in front of them, neither turned their heads at her approach. By then, most of the dust had dispersed, giving her a clear view of what they were looking at. At this angle, there was no evidence that pointed out a super mutant attack occurred here. Towering over them, the piles of rubble stood still, covering what was hidden underneath.

If anyone had passed by and saw this, they'd conclude this mess occurred from The Great War.

All too soon, the boulders began to waver and suddenly, a massive orange hand reached out towards them though well beyond it's reach. Following foot, the behemoth's head lifted itself off the ground, pieces of rubble sliding off. Once it's eyes, or should she say the one eye and bloodied gash where the other would've resided, glared back at them and attempted to stand.

Unfortunately for the over-sized mutant, which Sarah was grateful for, it appeared to be trapped underneath the destruction caused by the men at her sides. At that thought, the infamous "Lone Wanderer" as people called him nowadays (not her), approached with a lazy steed. The mutant having taken notice, it started struggling more aggressively in it's bound position though whether it was to free itself or reach out and tear the man apart was lost to her.

Far too wounded for any of it's primal roars, it opted for a deep-dark like growling instead yet he wasn't wavered by them and stood over it's head. Looking up at him, it attempted to open it's mouth yet before it could do anything with it, the barrel of a rifle was shoved down it's throat.

"Open wide and say... _AHHHHHHHHHHHH!"_

Without waiting, the boom of a single round of his rifle which could bursts a man's ear drums burst it's head clean apart. Blood spilled over the street and splattered against the boulders which would now be the behemoth's grave. Turning back towards them, she could see specks of the mutant's insides across his duster, as well as sheets of dust, burns of lasers, and rips of bullet holes.

"A job well done, don't you think, Irving?" he spoke with that cheerful tone as if nothing happened. Turning to the man in question, he remained stoic despite the call out of his name and replied with the same tone he always used.

"Well done, indeed... Jason"


End file.
